Tatum 'sexiest man alive'

November 15, 2012 12:01 AM

November 15, 2012 12:01 AM

Actor Channing Tatum, a cast member in "The Son of No One," poses for a portrait during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)R-MOLOSHOK

Channing Tatum is People magazine's "sexiest man alive" for 2012.

The 32-year-old actor says his first thought on hearing the news was: "'Y'all are messing with me.'"

Tatum's film roles include "Magic Mike" and the upcoming "Foxcatcher."

Other actors who have received the "sexiest" label include George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Ryan Reynolds. Last year's "sexiest man" was Bradley Cooper.

People announced its 2012 list Wednesday.

Biden, Bono meet to discuss issues

Vice President Joe Biden has met with U2 frontman Bono to discuss global development, AIDS and efforts to fight poverty.

The singer and activist has been a leading advocate for Africa, drawing attention to issues ranging from poverty and hunger to AIDS.

Spokesman Jay Carney joked that Bono and Jim Messina -- President Barack Obama's campaign manager -- were forming a new band. Messina also visited the White House on Tuesday. Carney said Obama did not meet with Bono.

Dave Matthews Band pledges $1M for storm recovery efforts

The Dave Matthews Band is giving $1 million to help Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts.

The band announced Wednesday that the Nov. 30 opening show of its winter tour at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., will be a benefit concert. All ticket and merchandise sales will go to the Bama Works Sandy Relief Fund, established at the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

The Grammy-winning group will wrap up its tour Dec. 22 in Philadelphia. Tickets are still on sale for the Nov. 30 show, which features Jimmy Cliff.

Jason Biggs defends his vulgar political tweets

Jason Biggs is brushing off criticism he received during the recent election season for vulgar tweets that referenced the wives of both Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate in the presidential race, Paul Ryan.

The "American Pie" star took heat for off-color comments posted to his Twitter feed at the time of the Republican National Convention in August. The outpouring of criticism from parents groups, pundits and others led Nickelodeon to issue an apology for the actor's comments on the social media website.

Biggs provides one of the voices in the cable TV station's new animated series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"I made a political tweet, so I got a little bit of heat from the right," he said. With elections over, Biggs said he's moving on.

Biggs' tweets have also poked fun at the Kardashians, Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan and the ABC show "The Bachelorette."

Eisner gets back into movie business

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner is taking steps to return to the film business.

Eisner, 70, said the media company he founded, the Tornante Company, will finance films that will be distributed by Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures.

The distribution deal will likely help Tornante raise outside financing.

There is no set number of films in the multiyear deal. Universal has similar arrangements with several production companies, including producer Joel Silver's Silver Pictures. This year, those arrangements resulted in just one film, "Pitch Perfect," which came out in September and grossed $62.6 million worldwide.

Eisner built a reputation at Disney, and at Paramount Pictures before that, for backing mid-budget films with recognizable actors and well-written scripts such as "Terms of Endearment" (1983), "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and "Ruthless People" (1986).

He was CEO of The Walt Disney Co. from 1984 to 2005.

Poet Jack Gilbert dies at 87 in California

Jack Gilbert, a prizewinning poet known for his clear and subtle verse, died Tuesday at 87.

Publisher Alfred A. Knopf officials said Gilbert died in Berkeley, Calif., after suffering for years from Alzheimer's disease.

His many honors included the Yale Younger Poets prize for his 1962 debut, "Views of Jeopardy," and a National Book Critics Circle Award for "Refusing Heaven." The Pittsburgh native also wrote the novels "My Mother Taught Me" and "Forever Ecstasy."

Gilbert often wrote about Pittsburgh. His "Collected Poems" came out in March and was praised by the New York Times as among the year's "most important" poetry books.